Entangled In Plague
by Commander Cody CC-2224
Summary: Flynn Rider is tasked with disarming a dangerous plague device that threatens to unleash a Bubonic Plague on Corona's Capital City. Flynn's story is told as a flashback to his five-year-old daughter Daphne. 2nd Edition - Corrected Grammar And Format Errors.
1. Prologue

_**Entangled In Plague**_

**Written By: **_**Commander Cody CC-2224**_

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><p>SUMMARY: Flynn Rider is tasked with disarming a dangerous plague device that threatens to unleash a Bubonic Plague on Corona's Capital City. Story is told as a flashback to his five-year-old daughter Daphne.<p>

PRIMARY CHARACTERS featured from the _Tangled_film: **Rapunzel**, **Flynn Ryder**, and the **Captain of the Guard**

STORY STATS:

- The story is set after the events of the _Tangled_ film

- The fanfic work heavily borrows ideas from _The Hurt Locker_ and _Valkyrie_

- The names of the King and Queen of Corona (Harold and Julia) were derived from the Tangled fanfic "The Princess, The Queen, and The Thief", written by "LoveBroadway1510".

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><p><span>PROLOGUE<span>

Daphne was lying on the ornate living room rug, flat on her stomach; her face pored over a crudely illustrated woodcut picture book telling the tale of a chivalrous knight engaged in heroic exploits of long ago. Even at five years of age such stories had the potential to evoke a keen sense of charm inside her, simply because the gist of the story was digested in a way as to allow her to comprehend what was going on in the picture book. It was at this point that Daphne started wondering whether anyone in her family was engaged in such heroic exploits.

Then Daphne had the brilliant idea of asking her father to tell her a story, perhaps one about his life, if it was in any way possible. So she got up from the rug and went up to her father.

"Daddy, please tell me a story," she pleaded.

Flynn Rider steadily put down his paper. "What story?" he asked his little daughter rather quizzically.

Daphne's right hand was already under her chin. It was her customary habit whenever she was nervous to ask her parents something of them. "I dunno," she replied. "_Any_ story."

Flynn wondered whether he should be charmed over the way Daphne was asking such a favor of her father. It really did remind him of the many times of when his wife Rapunzel would ask him to take him to various places throughout the kingdom of Corona after she had her own little taste of freedom from the confines of Mother Gothel's tower, before they were married. And now little Daphne was doing nearly the same thing. In fact, much of the time, Flynn would be constantly reminded of his wife doing that same thing, because Daphne really resembled her mother, not just in her looks, but in her actions. Every time he saw his daughter, he would usually see a bit of Rapunzel in her.

He quickly glanced at the clock before heaving himself up from his chair. "Okay," he answered. "Let me head over to the bookshelf and pick one." After making his brief heading over to the family room bookshelf, Flynn put himself to work on sifting through the shelf, searching for a story that would be of some interest to little Daphne. But then Daphne had another bright idea.

"Wait, Daddy!" Daphne called, finally grabbing his attention, much to Flynn's annoyance. "I have an idea!"

"What is it?" asked Flynn.

"I want you to tell me a story…about your life," said Daphne.

Flynn shoved the last book into the living room shelf. "Well, Daphne," he had to inform her, "That would be a helluva long one. You'd fall asleep by then long before I'd be able to finish the story for you."

"No, I won't, Daddy," Daphne tried to assure her father in earnest. Her hands were clasped together, and her face held together an innocent grin. "Pleeeeease? Please, Daddy?"

Daphne seemed to think that by playing innocent, she could sway her father to acquiesce to her request. Flynn knew she would assume that, but he's quite willing enough to do it for her. However, his wife would not allow herself to be easily swayed in this matter.

Rapunzel perked her head up from her clever sketching. "Well, Daphne," she began. "The last time your father read a long chapter from one of his journals to you…you fell asleep!" she said with a small laugh.

"That's 'cuz I was borrred," said Daphne, facing toward her mother.

She had a tendency to get bored whenever storytelling is prolonged past a ten-to-fifteen minutes span. At best she could stand an hour's worth of storytelling, but overtime her focus would eventually diminish. Call it short-attention span, but that was how much Daphne could focus on when it came to word-of-mouth storytelling. Oftentimes, Flynn had to divide up his storytelling in small chunks just so that his little daughter could mentally digest the contents.

"To tell _you_ the _entire_ story of my life would take…I dunno…a _year_…" Flynn estimated rather wildly.

"You've got to be _joking_!" cried Rapunzel, shocked at a statement that she thought was absurd to her. Her pet chameleon and loyal friend Pascal jumped up at being startled by her outburst. "What makes you think it'll take a _year_?"

"Well, there's quite a lot to tell," said Flynn. "And given that Daphne is…well…"

Daphne took advantage her father's pause by reiterating her request for storytelling. "Daddy, please start," Daphne pleaded again.

"Oh, all right," said Flynn, deciding to settle this matter squarely. "How 'bout instead I tell you the story of a heroic exploit I performed a long time ago…right here in this town?"

It was at this very moment that Rapunzel was starting to show some pretty serious concern about Flynn's stories. "Flynn," she asked her husband, "Does it involve telling your life stories that mostly involve your horrific life experiences?"

Flynn conveyed a very frank answer to Rapunzel, seeing that her sixth sense could penetrate his thin veil of feigning innocence. Pascal shot a long glance at Flynn, and Flynn could tell that Pascal's gaze was penetrating him. "Yeah," Flynn answered quickly.

"Little Daphne is only _five_ years old!" cried Rapunzel in protest. "We simply can't have her listen to such nightmarish stories that occurred in your lifetime. Don't you remember? They gave her the _creeps_ just after you passed on your story about having your encounter with the toxic potion…and describing the horrific effects of that potion on its victims!"

Being an easily scared, sensitive, little girl, Daphne started retreating to her mother. Flynn knew better than to interrupt his wife, much less ignore her pretty legit concerns about their five-year-old daughter listening to such stories at her age.

"Tone down the details, at the very least," Rapunzel instructed her husband. Since she knew that Flynn seemed to have a tendency to spare no details when it came to his own style of storytelling, and with five-year-old Daphne present, there was quite a legit concern of giving rise of many nightmares that Flynn knew throughout his life.

Flynn nodded in agreement. "All right, Rapunzel. If I do tell a story like that, I'll give you my word that I'll tone down on the gritty little details."

"You'd better, 'cause if you break that promise, I'll _hit_ you with my frying pan." Rapunzel warned Flynn rather sarcastically.

"Ouch," replied Flynn, wincing. He certainly didn't look forward to being hit by Rapunzel's frying pan…just like what she did when they first met. That was a hell of a first encounter. But it was his way of returning Rapunzel's sarcasm. He knew Rapunzel wouldn't do something like that, but then again, you never know.

He sat back on the couch. Daphne jumped off her mother's lap and onto her father's.

Rapunzel started looking up from her sketching, keeping both eyes on the two. Pascal relaxed his gaze, as well his own chameleon body.

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><p>AUTHOR'S NOTES:<p>

Despite the fact that I'm a retired fanfiction writer, the idea to write this fanfic work of literature sprung up from my mind after I first watched Disney's elegant yet tasteful _Tangled _film. I also watched the film _The Hurt Locker_, which involved U.S. Army specialist disarm bombs during the Second Persian Gulf War in Iraq, and I had the idea having Flynn rider disarm a bomb; only this time, it's a device that threatens to spread plague across Corona's Capital City.

I began this story about three months ago, but I was so caught up with schoolwork that a short story with a handful of chapters that would normally take a few weeks to finish began to take a few months. Almost every aspect of the story had to be thought out thoroughly as it could, the mechanical aspects of the plague device had to be thought out, and the flow of the story had to be smooth. I think the story could use a little more improvement, but the editing should make it easier for you readers out there to read and comprehend.

As a final note, this story is sort of a continuation of my previous _Tangled_ fanfic, _A Dangerous Treasure_. Much of the time this story acts as a stand-alone to the previous fanfic, but if you have the time, I recommend you look into reading that fanfic, simply because there may be some aspects in this story that have a connection to _Dangerous Treasure_ (e.g. Rapunzel's mention of the "toxic potion" was derived from _A Dangerous Treasure_). It's a very short two-act fanfic work that takes place between the _Tangled_ film, and it shouldn't take a whole lot of time to read through.


	2. Chapter 1

_**Entangled In Plague**_

**Written By: **_**Commander Cody CC-2224**_

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><p><span>CHAPTER 1<span>

Three Years Ago…

The streets of Corona's Capital City were in an alarming state of panic. Church bells and school bells and noisy town criers were sounding the general alarm. Soldiers of the King were hastily herding many of the city's inhabitants across the streets and out of the city. It seemed that something truly serious was going on that warranted people to be moved out of the city itself.

Around the city men and women were hastily packing only a handful of belongings portable enough to be carried for long journeys. People packed food, clothes, and other necessities that they could stuff in a few sacks and large woven baskets as possible before heading out of their houses.

Inside the royal palace Flynn Rider strode his way across one of the palace alcoves in a hurried manner on the way to Rapunzel's bedchamber. At that time he was still a royal Sergeant of the Guard. He obtained this royal occupation after the previous Guard Sergeant was killed in some sort of freak accident, and Flynn was duly requested by the King and Queen of Corona to take the place of the previous Guard Sergeant, a request to which he responded faithfully and without much reserve. Such a position was accompanied with fringe benefits; the most important of them being that it allowed him to be with his wife Rapunzel and his baby daughter Daphne.

This time, however, Flynn was summoned for an assignment in disarming a plague device situated in the middle of a town street in Corona. But first he had to make sure that his wife and baby daughter were safely out of the city before he got to work.

Meanwhile, inside the royal palace, the same atmosphere of statewide emergency hovered across its rooms. In her royal bedchamber, Rapunzel, assisted by a palace maid, was packing luggage on a king-sized bed when Flynn stepped into the room, unannounced. Her pet chameleon Pascal was examining individual dry goods canisters in a quizzical manner. Because of the catastrophic nature of the plague device, Rapunzel and baby Daphne had to evacuate the castle until Flynn could find a way to disarm it completely. Flynn decided to take a little time assisting Rapunzel while trying to say his goodbyes.

"That's about all you and Daphne need for the moment," said Flynn, plopping nonperishable dry goods on the bed. Very soon he took notice of the amount of clothes Rapunzel packed into a separate traveling trunk. Was she packing her entire armoire?

"Rapunzel, I don't think it's a good idea to take all that. You'll be burden with much…"

"Oh, come on, Flynn!" Rapunzel interrupted her husband in sheer exasperation. "_You're_ not the one that has to nurse Daphne at the breast! When my gown gets _wet_ in the _middle_, it starts getting pretty uncomfortable to wear the same clothes! Why, just the _thought_ of it is…!" She couldn't think of anything else to say, so Rapunzel finished with an angry sigh.

"But you're not going to be gone from this palace for long…hopefully," Flynn desperately tried to assure his wife. "I know it may take quite a long time, but based on my past first experience with a device like that…even something like that wouldn't take a day."

Rapunzel cast a look at Flynn that indicated utter skepticism. "And if the device is not disarmed?" she asked him. "Flynn, if it goes off, the entire Capital City will be awash in contamination. Every piece of _property_ in this _vicinity_ will be _unfit_ for _use_…" she looked down. "…Even my _clothes_. We've got to think long term in case the device goes off."

Flynn couldn't believe his wife could have that much concern about her armoire. "Rapunzel, _everyone's_ property is at stake," he admonished her. "And to top that…_everyone's_ _lives_…depending if they aren't too close to the center of the town…where it's suspected the device is planted."

But Flynn could tell that Rapunzel was pretty stressed – and worried – at this very moment. For her, the state of emergency in progress was far more than just a mere inconvenience of leaving the royal palace; it meant that Flynn would be deeply involved with putting an end to the terror that was plaguing Corona's Capital City right now, at this very minute, at the risk of his own life. She just couldn't bear the thought that she might lose her beloved Flynn any moment.

"I…I don't know, Flynn," said Rapunzel sadly. "The thought of losing you…it's just…"

"Painful, yes, I know," Flynn agreed. "But I am about the only capable, competent man in this city qualified for the disarmament job."

Both Rapunzel and Flynn clasped hands together. She buried her face in Flynn's arms. Flynn held her in his arms for quite a while before glancing at the traveling trunk.

"Rapunzel, what are you going to do with all these clothes?" he asked her gently.

Rapunzel hung her head. "Look, Flynn; it's not as if I'm asking for cosmetic products to be packed," she told him. "When it comes to situations like this…Daphne and I should be able to survive…adequately…on most of the bare necessities, provided there's ample amount. That includes clothes, too."

"But Rapunzel, excessive clothing, I'm afraid, shouldn't have to be on the list of bare necessities you'll be taking with you and Daphne on your evacuation trip," Flynn had to remind his pretty distressed wife. "Too much luggage will slow you down. And you and Daphne have to get out…_fast_."

"Well, Flynn…_you_ of all people can afford to make such assumptions because _you_ don't have to concern yourself much of the time with personal _hygiene_," she retorted.

At this point, Flynn decided to let Rapunzel have her way…for the time.

"Well…don't you pack too many clothes," Flynn told her. "Pack as much necessary consumable provisions for you and Daphne. As much as you can. Does no good to have many clothes and not enough for you and Daphne…and Pascal…to eat."

"Right, Flynn," agreed Rapunzel, nodding her head.

Flynn checked the bedroom clock. "It's about time," he said sadly. "I have to go." He kissed his beloved Rapunzel and baby daughter Daphne goodbye, and then gave Pascal a light pat on the head. "See you when it's over," he told her quietly before departing from the bedchamber.


	3. Chapter 2

_**Entangled In Plague**_

**Written By: **_**Commander Cody CC-2224**_

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><p><span>CHAPTER 2<span>

Flynn made his way into the Grand Hall. His pace was both brisk and apprehensive. The thought of forcing his wife and daughter, still in her infancy, out of the palace was not something he was looking forward to. But it had to be done out of great necessity because if there was indeed an imminent threat of deadly plague waiting to unleash its lethal strain on Capital City, his family would be among the plague's victims.

The Palace hall was in a flurry of panicky excitement. Footmen and servants were scurrying across the hall, assisting various officials, noblemen, and ladies who were active participants of the royal court with evacuating their own privileged premises. Noblemen could be heard arguing loudly with both their own servants, and their wives and ladies could be heard arguing with their husbands and their servants or ladies-in-waiting. Some families could be heard bidding tearful goodbyes to their loved ones, though it might have been quite a wonder to Flynn, since much of the time these privileged folk had the means to escape capital city unscathed. The whole place was quite hectic, and the apprehensive mood was fueled by an intolerable state of panic.

By the time he made his arrival, King Harold and Queen Julia were waiting for him. The greeting started when Flynn stepped into to the King's private chamber. The first to greet Flynn was the King himself.

"Master Eugene FitzHerbert, you are most _welcome_ here," the King greeted him, extending his hands graciously to Flynn's. As a courtesy, Flynn kissed the ring on King Harold's right hand. Then he knelt before Queen Julia and kissed her hand as well.

Standing beside the King, the Captain of the Guard extended his left hand into the King's inner sanctum, indicating to whoever was waiting to be ushered into the sanctum that they should step inside. All did, and two footmen shut the double doors. Along with a handful of palace officials, the group continued on their way through the inner sanctum until they reached the King's Map Room.

It would be the Captain of the Guard who was tasked with briefing Flynn on the details of the emergency situation. "As you can see, the plague device is planted right in the middle of Capital City's Main Street," the Captain explained.

"No doubt, for effective dispersal of the airborne plague," suspected Flynn.

"Exactly. Well said," said the Guard Captain. "From what a doctor on site has told us through a courier on paper…this device houses a deadly variant of the Bubonic Plague…except for the fact that it's a weaponized version of the Plague itself."

"My…God…" Flynn muttered to himself.

"And that's not just the worst of our worries," the Guard Captain added. "According to one of the troops, it is greatly suspected that the device is equipped with tamper-proof measures. To meet this likely measure of disarmament resistance, Lieutenant Murdoch and I have acquired all the necessary blacksmith tools for this purpose."

"We had considered utilizing prisoners for this dangerous task…however…" mentioned the King.

"But it was too expensive," the Guard Captain finished for him quite bluntly. "For one thing, you have to consider the _cost_ of those Plague Suits, which have to undergo significantly _extensive_ decontamination after each use involving exposure to plague areas…not to mention the men themselves. The other thing you'd have to consider as well…is the inept handling of the device. One wrong move…"

"And you're through," Flynn finished abruptly for the Guard Captain in turn. "By which you end up _dead_…or _dying_…in the process." Because Flynn had disarmed a plague device before, the King and Queen of Corona were desperately seeking Flynn's service.

"Because of your previous experiences with one of those devices," said the Guard Captain, "We had made the desperate seeking of your service in this matter as a first priority."

"In other words, you're saying that nobody but me is qualified for the job," said Flynn.

"Exactly," put in King Harold. He put right hand on Flynn's left shoulder. "My boy, I cannot stress enough the seriousness of this task which is in your very hands. The time when the Bubonic Plague of 1366 ravaged our kingdom can never be truly erased from our memories. Its strain may well be…the very same terrible strain that was present during the plague itself. During the Plague, people across our kingdom…and everywhere…died like flies, with ugly sores on their skin. Then there was…"

"My dear, there really is no need to go through the graphical details of the Plague!" protested Queen Julia. "It simply isn't…"

"It is _necessary_, my Queen, if Flynn is to be reminded even more the seriousness of the task," he told her sternly. He relaxed his poise. "For all we know, he might have forgotten about what it would have been like if one of those things should ever go off. He must disarm the device…before it's too late."

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><p>AUTHOR'S NOTES:<p>

The Captain of the Guard featured in this _Tangled_ fanfic is the very same Captain of the Guard featured in Disney's _Tangled_ film.


	4. Chapter 3

_**Entangled In Plague**_

**Written By: **_**Commander Cody CC-2224**_

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><p><span>CHAPTER 3<span>

With assistance from the palace servants, Flynn was fitted into a Plague Suit, or, to be technically specific, a Beak Doctor Costume. That suit was a kind of suit used by personnel involved in plague situations. The full suit comprised of a heavy leather overcoat, accompanied by a stork-like head covering.

First, Flynn donned on the loose-and-flowing ankle-length drab-brown overcoat. With some assistance he had the leather gloves. All components were made of Moroccan leather, which were thoroughly waxed.

Finally, with much help from the servants, he put on the beak mask. The waxed-leather mask had a long circular flap at the bottom, which was attached almost seamlessly to the neck area. Most crucially, it boasted a pair of goggles attached to the mask itself. It also had two small holes on each side, and was reinforced with dried flowers and sweet-smelling herbs with the hope that the bad air would be repelled and the person inside the suit would be protected from disease.

It was a mite difficult to strap the mask on. The beak part had to be securely strapped to Flynn in order for it to be effective.

"This costume was worn by a few of Capital City's distinguished plague doctors," the Guard Captain proudly declared.

"I gather," agreed Flynn, who was quite impressed by its history. "So that means this costume is brand new?

"In all manner of speaking, yes," the Guard Captain answered him. "The costume didn't have to go through much wear and tear."

"So why am I wearing it?" Flynn questioned rather curiously. "I'm not even a plague doctor."

"We reserved the best of equipment for the people who proved to be the most capable plague doctors…or the most capable plague device disarmers," answered the Guard Captain. "Besides, as you can tell…we _were_ quite desperate. We had to assure your wife that we would provide you with the best equipment we had to offer…and if we didn't, she wouldn't allow you to perform the task. And because she's the Princess of Corona, we couldn't afford to go against her wishes."

By that point the beak mask was securely strapped on Flynn's face.

"That…that was mighty thoughtful of you, Cap'n.

"Um…yeah," said the Guard Captain in all manner of awkwardness.

* * *

><p>The Main Street of Corona's Capital City was in the process of having its last remnants of its civilian population cleared off and evacuated. Taking the street's place were the King's Men, closing in on the scene as Flynn approached Ground Zero, stuffed in his awkwardly uncomfortable Plague Suit. At the center of ground zero was a horseless horse-carriage, parked suspiciously at the city square.<p>

"So how am I gonna do this?" Flynn asked the Guard Captain. Both men had to be very close to each other in order to communicate, since the beak covering muffled Flynn's voice.

"We'll cover your mighty fine back while you disarm the device," said the Guard Captain, quite loudly for Flynn to hear inside his beak covering. "And if I were you, I wouldn't take off the entire costume just because you think it's bulky to work around with. Besides…it gives you an incentive not to get yourself exposed to the plague, eh, Flynn?" teased the Guard Captain. "Your Rapunzel wouldn't like it."

Flynn shot back a scowl at the Captain, as he found such remarks to be obnoxious rather than encouraging at a time like this. But that was the truth, and the Captain could not be more right than that. Nevertheless, he stepped into the scene, ready to take on the challenge.

"Can I have a wire cutter?" shouted Flynn. The King's Men handed over a heavy lock-cutting tool that blacksmiths used to cut large chunky metal pipes.

Armed with his disarming blacksmith device, Flynn proceeded cautiously to Ground Zero, where the parked horse carriage was located.

But moments before Flynn could even get to a few feet closer to the carriage, a flaming arrow struck the center of the horse-less carriage itself. The slight breeze fans the flames around the carriage.

In panic Flynn shouted for water. "WATER! WATER!" Flynn shouted in desperation.

Fortunately the King's Men, being quite alert, knew exactly what was going on. A water pumping device used aboard ships was promptly brought to the scene. The water-pumping personnel feverishly sprayed gallons of water on the burning carriage. Soon they managed to put the fire out.

Spotting a man on the rooftops suspected of firing the burning arrow, the King's Men fired their crossbows at the left-hand side of Main Street. One of the lieutenants gave chase to the man in the back alleys and managed to pin him down. The King's Men stayed more alert now.

Cautiously Flynn came across the left hand side of the carriage. Using a crowbar, he attempted to pry the carriage door open. When the restraining mechanisms were loosened, Flynn carefully propped opened the door, and a horrific surprise was in store.

To his utter horror, he found a canister globe filled with some sort of...lime-greenish substance. A potential biohazard. The device was inside the horse carriage.

"Interesting," Flynn muttered cynically to himself.

To make matters worse, the carriage was immobilized to prevent moving. Flynn was going to have to get creative with this one.

Flynn was beginning to have serious doubts creeping into his already stressed mind that even the best of equipment would protect him from extreme exposure to the plague device. However, he knew that the King's servants had gone to an awful lot of trouble to acquire that equipment…because of Rapunzel's bidding. If Flynn managed to get through this, he would not have wanted to face Rapunzel with the impression that he was intentionally careless with his well-being. So he set himself to work on the device while wearing his cumbersome costume.

He surveyed further the layout of the plague device. The device was in the form of a four-sided cylindrical canister, with its length the average length of a rum barrel. The device itself was strapped in chains, with several padlocks binding a complex network of chains to allay the possibility of it being moved off the wagon.

Flynn attempted to break away the chains, but to his own frustration it was far too difficult for him.

Eventually he encountered great difficulty with disarming the device. This difficulty was heightened by the fact that he was struggling furiously to remember how he disarmed a previous device. It had been quite a very, very long time since Flynn had done this kind of work.

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><p>AUTHOR'S NOTES:<p>

The Plague Suit was based on the costume worn during the Plague of Nijmegen. Costume was designed based on the _miasma_ theory of disease (where disease is acquired by bad air).

The ideas for this chapter were based off _The Hurt Locker_, where Sergeant James disarms a car bomb. Also some mechanical ideas concerning the plague device trigger mechanisms were based off the British time pencil ideas from the _Valkyrie_ movie.


	5. Chapter 4

_**Entangled In Plague**_

**Written By: **_**Commander Cody CC-2224**_

CHAPTER 4

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><p>Flynn started asking himself why the same method would be used. <em>Perhaps whoever came up with the device didn't learn from history,<em> he thought to himself. It turned out that the same method was used; save for one major difference…the carriage was lit on fire by a flaming arrow.

* * *

><p>Five Years Earlier…<p>

The Village of Cherrywood…

The semi-backward local village of Cherrywood, located at a relative southeast direction of Corona's Capital City, was for the most part evacuated of its civilian population. The only thing that was not evacuated was a lone horse-less carriage.

At that time, long before he had ever encountered Rapunzel inside Mother Gothel's tower, Flynn had been jailed for the theft of royal treasure from the palace of Corona's Capital City. The King and Queen of Corona decided to offer Flynn an opportunity to regain his freedom as well as his reputation. His price of freedom entailed a task relegated community service, and it was a potentially hazardous one that would involve the risk of his own life.

His act of community service was to disarm a plague device. Normally it would be an engineer, or some other specialist who would be paid nearly five times handsomely to do this dirty, dangerous work. In very desperate circumstances, it would be convicts who would have had some manner of engineering training, and quite a handful of them who would have had that kind of training would have already utilized those skills for lock-picking during occasional bank raids and home burglaries. However, the King and Queen of Corona, getting the story from Flynn himself that he occasionally tinkered with mechanical toys during his childhood, decided to let him attempt the task of disarming the plague device, since they were sort of advised against sending their best engineers in their employ to disarm a device located in a semi-backward village.

Flynn propped open the carriage door with ease. It was indeed a plague device, except it was in canister form. And Flynn knew that he was clad in inferior protection against the plague. He was a convict; so there seemed to be no incentive to provide convicts with the best of protective equipment. If that was the case, from his own point of view, there seemed to be little point in wearing it, given that the entire suit was bulky to work with, so he might as well take it off. So Flynn removed the Plague Suit and carries it back to the King's Men.

"What the hell are you doing, Flynn Rider?" the Captain of the Guard shouted at Flynn rather furiously.

"This Plague Suit will barely give me adequate protection from extreme exposure to the plague device," Flynn retorted back to the Guard Captain in a cynical manner. "I'm a convict; there's no way in hell my life is worth the expensive gear. That much is certain, since I'm wearing inferior equipment. If I'm going to die…I might as well die comfortably."

Flynn headed back to the carriage with a wire-cutting device. The difference was that the wire-cutting tool's handles were longer, giving the wire-cutting device more leverage. Flynn was also told to focus on the chain links, rather than the padlocks, since the links were far easier to cut apart than the padlocks themselves.

For Flynn, from his point of view, pretty much all he had to do was to take the device out of the horseless horse- carriage and neutralize the "acid timer", a single acid capsule inside the device, which involved taking the device apart. The acid capsule was then responsible for automated release of the biohazard. The mechanism was designed in a way that for the device to release the biohazard, the acid must eat away a corrosive-prone foam layer that would hold back a firing pin intended to trigger the plague device. Once the acid ate away the wire holding back the firing pin, the device would be mercilessly triggered, and the biohazard released. If the acid capsule could be neutralized, the device itself is then neutralized.

Flynn focused all his mental concentration and willpower on cutting apart the chain links. Soon he managed to take apart the bottom plate of the circular device. There was one single mechanism involving the "acid timer". Flynn had to carefully extract the acid timer before he could be in a position to cut apart the firing pin wire in an area closest to the foam layer's edge, and "jamming" the firing pin, which involved distorting the wire in such a way as to keep the firing pin held in place…to prevent the plague device from going off.

* * *

><p>AUTHOR'S NOTES:<p>

Some of the mechanical ideas for this chapter were based off _The Hurt Locker_, where Sergeant James disarms a car bomb. Also some of the chapter ideas are based off the British time pencil ideas from the _Valkyrie_ movie.

For some of you readers who need clarification on the chronology of the story's settings, the setting of "Five Years Earlier" is supposed to apply to this part of the story being set five years prior to the events of Flynn disarming the plague device.


	6. Chapter 5

_**Entangled In Plague**_

**Written By: **_**Commander Cody CC-2224**_

* * *

><p><span>CHAPTER 5<span>

The answer came to mind: lengthen the handle of the wire-cutting device. Acting on his own impulse, he took up the wire-cutter and began positioning the cutter's tip directly at one of the wires connecting the acid timer to the plague canister itself.

Meanwhile, the King's Men were keeping constant watch for anything or anyone attempting to hinder Flynn's good works. In a few seconds, one of the King's Men spotted a lone man stepping out of his hiding place and running from the scene. One of the King's Men orders him to hold his ground, but he didn't. The soldier shot the suspect with an accurate crossbow.

The dead suspect was searched. During the feverish search, which took a little more than a minute, it gradually became clear that a more dangerous discovery was beginning to emerge. The suspect had a mechanical stopwatch in his hand. And it read twelve minutes to the count of zero. Their worst fears have now been realized.

The soldier brought up the watch to the Captain of the Guard. An atmosphere of utter shock, followed immediately by tension, hovered over the Captain's face.

"Oh…my…God…" the Guard Captain said in shock. He turned to Flynn, who was still furiously fussing with the device. "Flynn!" he shouted at him. "We've got terrible bad news!"

"WHAT?" Flynn shouted back at the Guard Captain, who was only twice a stone's throw's distance from him.

"Bad news!" the Guard Captain shouted. "You've got only twelve minutes left to disarm the device! No wait, eleven minutes Just _eleven_ minutes!"

"DAMMIT!" yelled Flynn in utter frustration.

This was it. _Goddamn!_ He furiously thought to himself. Flynn now had only eleven minutes to disarm the device. He also was warned that if the device went off, and if he was exposed to the deadly plague, he would be forced to undergo two months worth of quarantine, the minimum. But that would be the lesser of two evils for Flynn, with the worst of both evils being that the outcome of the device going off would result in him being dead in minutes.

Flynn's frustration started rising, nearly to the breaking point. It so happened that that particular plague-releasing device was much, much more challenging than the one he encountered during his community service. To Flynn's utter misery, he now had to contend with reinforced steel chain links and the fact that a corrosive acid was already in the merciless process of rapidly eating through the foam layer that held back the device's firing pin. The ever-present consequence of death by bubonic plague if he failed his task was in imminent in eleven – no, _ten_ minutes.

Flynn managed to break apart the chain links. He then slowly and carefully bore the device out of the horse carriage. Flynn used the heavy-duty chain cutter to remove all four padlocks fastening the bottom plate. After doing that, he then removed the plate.

Flynn then proceeded to carefully extract the acid timer before he could be in a position to cut apart the firing pin wire in an area closest to the foam layer's edge, and "jamming" the firing pin, which involved distorting the wire in such a way as to keep the firing pin held in place…to prevent the plague device from going off.

But there was far more hurt in store for Flynn than he ever thought. Instead of one acid timer, there were four redundant acid timers. Flynn was really in deep shit now. Now he had to perform _four_ times the amount of delicate work in an environment involving really severe time pressure. And to make matters even worse for Flynn, the mask was preventing him from seeing closely and carefully during the disarmament process.

Disregarding the warnings of the Captain of the King's Men, Flynn furiously removed his beak covering. He attempted to break off the locks one by one with the heavy-duty wire-cutting tool. Circumstances were strained to the breaking point as Flynn desperately attempted to disarm the "acid timers" one at a time.

Keeping a steady pace without pause, Flynn managed to disarm all acid timers. One by one, with his handy wire-cutting tool, he severed the connection wires. This neutralized the ability for the acid timer to trigger the plague canister. After making sure all connections were severed, Flynn shut the bottom lid hard and breathed a very heavy sigh of relief, thanking Divine Providence in his mind for being spared from an imminent, wretched death.

With all the "acid timers" finally disarmed, Flynn decided to call it a big day…and celebrate his heroic prowess.

"We're done!" Flynn shouted at the Guard Captain.

The Captain of the Guard was utterly astonished over the fact that Flynn managed to disarm a plague device that was twice as difficult as the previous device. "You…you did it?" he asked Flynn in utter shock and disbelief.

"Um…yeah," Flynn replied in a rather stuttered manner. He was too fazed to be of sound mind at this time. For him, this was his second near-death experience with a diabolical plague device.

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><p>AUTHOR'S NOTES:<p>

The ideas for this chapter were based off of _The Hurt Locker_, where Sergeant James disarms a car bomb. Also, the chapter ideas were based off the British time pencil ideas from the _Valkyrie_ movie.


	7. Chapter 6

_**Entangled In Plague**_

**Written By: **_**Commander Cody CC-2224**_

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><p><span>CHAPTER 6<span>

After successfully disarming the device, the King's Men sounded the "All Clear" signal across the city.

"ALL CLEAR! ALL CLEAR!" the Captain of the Guard shouted, along with the King's Men.

Following the shouts of "All Clear", the rest of the soldiers let loose the held-back through of the Capital City's inhabitants. It was then that Flynn was hailed as a great hero of Corona's Capital City.

Corona's citizens screamed, squealed, jumped, and danced with delight as they found relief at least through being allowed back into their home city, now free of the imminent danger of another dreaded strain of the Bubonic Plague. Many of the villages gave joyful thanks to Providence for delivering them and their beloved city from the plague, and some of them sang the _Te Deum_ out loud for all to hear.

Amid the ever-excited throng, Flynn's beloved wife, Rapunzel, struggled to push her way through the crowd while carrying baby Daphne behind her on a sling. It was at this point that baby Daphne was wide-eyed about what was going on around her. Pushing her way through in a rather frantic rush, Rapunzel managed to make it all the way to her beloved Flynn.

Flynn was really excited to see Rapunzel and his baby daughter alive. They embraced each other tightly. But they were caught by surprise by none other than the Captain of the Guard himself.

"Well, congratulations, Flynn Rider," said the Guard Captain.

"Thank you, Captain," said Rapunzel graciously.

"I wasn't talking to you, Princess!" said the Captain rather sarcastically. "I was talking to Flynn."

Rapunzel knew that the Captain was acting a bit rude to her, but decided to let it go. After all, he had to put his life on the line making sure that her beloved Flynn did his job and come back alive.

"Your husband is a true hero," the Captain commended proudly on Flynn to Rapunzel. "He managed to get the job done..without his mask on."

"WHAT?" asked Rapunzel loudly in utter shock. "How could you! That was colossally STUPID of you, Flynn Rider!" she cried in utter horror, before slapping him in the face. She scolded Flynn very, very severely and slapped him in the face, much to Flynn's utter shock. Flynn's shock started to transform into indignation.

However, Flynn's indignation as finally cooled when Rapunzel embraces him tightly, even while he was in his plague suit, save for his beak covering. Flynn and Rapunzel shared a long kiss...much to Daphne's wide-eyed amusement.

Flynn immediately turned to the Guard Captain. "You shouldn't have said that!" he complained.

"Oh, I think that was a good thing he did!" retorted Rapunzel in a smug manner, losing all her composure on account of being so worried about Flynn's safety. "Because if he _didn't_, you would have gotten away with being so _careless_ about your well-_being_ in the _future_!"

Flynn only sighed. "That's my Rapunzel," he said. He put his right arm around the Guard Captain's shoulder. "C'mon," he said to him. "Let's celebrate our victory over a pint of ale when we get back to the palace. What 'ya say?"

"Too right, m'boy," agreed the Guard Captain.

Flynn waved at a carriage, which promptly stopped near the group of three. He helped Rapunzel into the carriage and was the last to step in. The Captain of the Guard, after summoning his horse, followed after Flynn and Rapunzel's carriage, which was driving directly to the royal palace.

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><p>AUTHOR'S NOTES:<p>

The _Te Deum_ was a traditional Ambrosian hymn sung back in the old days whenever a city was delivered from plague or invaders back in the European Medieval period.


	8. Epilogue

_**Entangled In Plague**_

**Written By: **_**Commander Cody CC-2224**_

* * *

><p><span>EPILOGUE<span>

Daphne was still attentive to her father, remarkably, though with some faire measure of wide-eyed interest.

"That's it," concluded Flynn. "That's pretty much the end of the story."

"Did Mama get to hit you with your frying pan?" asked Daphne. Rapunzel couldn't help but make a soft, muffled laugh over that one. But if she didn't have any idea what Flynn had been through, she would have done it.

"I should have. I really should have done that," said Rapunzel wryly.

"But you didn't, Mama," Daphne pointed out. "Why?"

Rapunzel's expression became quite serious. "Because of what your father went through to keep Capital City safe from the plague, Daphne. He put his life at risk so that we might keep on living," she answered her daughter. Even her pet chameleon Pascal had to agree to that one.

"Oh…" said Daphne in appreciative wonder.

"And it would fail to do him justice if I hit him with my frying pan," Rapunzel pointed out further.

"Thank God," said Flynn, not exactly looking forward to _that_. "Uhhhh." He suddenly glanced at the clock. "Good Lord! It's _ten_…_already_?"

"Already?" asked Rapunzel, suddenly glancing at the clock, too. "Dear me…"

"It's bedtime already," said Daphne, looking down on the floor in a disappointed manner. Daphne resented the fact that she had to go to bed early, even if her parents thought it was for her own good.

"For _you_," Flynn had to emphasize.

"I know, Daddy," said Daphne, before looking up at her father. "What about you? Don't you and Mama have to go to bed, too?"

"In a little while, Daphne," replied Rapunzel. "But _you_ are little. And _you_ need more sleep than we do. Pascal started pointing the way where Daphne should go to her bedroom."

"Awww…" said Daphne, disappointed again. "Well…good night, Mama," she said.

"Good night, Daphne," Rapunzel responded rather tenderly to her little daughter.

"Good night," said Flynn.

Daphne's glance shifted to Pascal. "Good night, Pascal," she chirped.

Pascal reacted by waving while grinning. And Daphne headed off to bed.

**THE END**

* * *

><p>Well, I do hope you enjoyed the story so far. I have to apologize for its terse style of writing. Please Review! Comment all you like, whether it's critiquing, analyzing, flaming, or just simply complaining about the mechanical aspects of the plague device borrowed from <em>The Hurt Locker<em> and _Valkyrie_! Feedback is always appreciated!


	9. Declassified Info

_**Entangled In Plague**_

**Written By: **_**Commander Cody CC-2224**_

DECLASSIFIED INFORMATION ON THE PLAGUE DEVICE

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><p>The purpose of this page is to give you a technical overview of the two versions of the Plague Device that Flynn Rider had to disarm. Some of the mechanical aspects of the device were borrowed from <em>The Hurt Locker<em> and _Valkyrie_, where the acid capsule mechanism responsible for triggering the charges used for assassinating Adolf Hitler is demonstrated in the middle of the film. I might not have been clear on the device's description in my story, so that is why this page is present for further clarification.

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><p><span>Main Function of the Plague Device<span>

A Plague Device is basically a canister housing biohazard, or plague. The container's length is about the same length as a rum barrel, and its cylindrical shape can either come in the form of a tubular-sided container or a four-sided container. At the bottom of the cylinder is a "device box" carrying either one or several redundant "acid timer" mechanisms.

A Plague Devices carries an "acid timer", a single acid capsule inside the device, which involves taking the device apart. The acid capsule is responsible for automated release of the biohazard. The mechanism is designed in a way that for the device to release the biohazard, the acid must eat away a corrosive-prone foam layer that holds back a firing pin intended to trigger the plague device. Once the acid eats away the wire holding back the firing pin, the device is triggered, and the biohazard is released. Once the acid capsule is neutralized, the device itself is then neutralized.

Plague Device (Flynn Rider's Flashback)

Device's cylindrical shape is tubular.

Device had four padlocks sealing the bottom plate.

Device had one large-scale "acid timer" mechanism, fitted in the middle of the device box.

Plague Device (Flynn Rider's Story)

Device's cylindrical shape is four-sided; that is, rectangular.

Device has four padlocks sealing the bottom plate.

Device has four redundant small-scale "acid timer" mechanisms, fitted in all four side edges of the device box. The small-scale "acid timer" mechanism is far more dangerous on account of its small size; hence its firing pin hold length is much shorter than on a large-scale "acid timer" mechanism.


End file.
